Learning to Change: Teaching Beyond Subjects and Standards

The success of school reform measures greatly depends on the
support and commitment of teachers. This book examines the
realities of educational change from the frontline perspective of
reform-minded teachers. It charts the perceptions and experiences
of twenty-nine teachers in grades 7 and 8 from four school
districts--showing how they grappled with such initiatives as
integrated curriculum, common learning standards, and alternative
modes of assessment.

This book moves beyond the bandwagons of rhetorical change and
examines how these changes work in practice for better and for
worse. Authors Andy Hargreaves and Lorna Earl focus on how reform
proposals have brought new complexities to teaching practice and
why major investments of time and support are required if teaching
innovations are to become lasting and effective. Most importantly,
they highlight the intense emotional demands that school change
imposes on teachers, and they outline practical strategies for
helping teachers through the difficult transition process--thus
ensuring that worthwhile reforms flourish and endure.

ANDY HARGREAVES is professor of education in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies and codirector of the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. LORNA EARL is associate professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies and codirector of the International Centre for Educational Change at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. SHAWN MOORE is a senior research officer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. He also works in the International Centre for Educational Change. SUSAN MANNING Susan Manning is a project manager in Student and Community Services for the Toronto District School Board. She is a former research manager for the Scarborough Board of Education.

"At a time when schools are dominated by prescriptive standards,
subject-centered coverage, and high-stakes testing, Learning to
Change offers us a glimpse of a more hopeful and enriching
pedagogy. I highly recommend this book for its pedagogical
contribution and its political lessons." (James Beane, Professor,
College of Education, National-Louis University)

"In this optimistic and fine-grained study of learning to change,
Andy Hargreaves and Lorna Earl graphically illustrate, with a
degree of clarity rarely previously achieved, how the professional
work of teachers mediates the translation of the new educational
orthodoxy into sustained and enhanced levels of student learning."
(David Hopkins, Professor and Dean of Education, University of
Nottingham, UK)

"At last we have a book that get beneath the slogans of reform! In
a compelling highly readable book the reader learns what supports
and hinders teachers' struggle to create higher standards for their
students. The authors go way beyond the technical and intellectual
work of teaching recognizing the highly emotional cultural aspects
of change. But this is no mere academic treatise, but rather a call
to intelligent and informed action." (Ann Lieberman, visiting
professor at Stanford University and senior scholar, The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching)

"Hargreaves and his colleagues have crafted a book that describes
the harsh reality of change efforts at the level where true
differences are made: the school and classroom levels. But more
importantly, they outline the intellectual and emotional work that
must be done for these efforts to succeed. Showing that there is no
substitute for clear thinking, careful planning, and hard work,
they demonstrate what is needed for deep and abiding change in
schools." (Thomas R. Guskey, professor of Educational Policy
Studies and Evaluation, University of Kentucky)

"Many teachers will read (this book) and feel vindicated, or at
least relieved, that someone has finally confirmed what they have
been saying about education reforms." (Professionally Speaking
Magazine, 6/01)

"This book will interest those concerned with examining the process
of change at the classroom level.... Hargreaves and his colleagues
argue persuasively for placing the practical, emotional, and
intellectual needs of teachers front and center the school reform
efforts." (American School Board Journal, 8/01)

"..this one is a must..."(Times Educational Supplement, 31 August
2001)

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